For Leigh (24-4), the game marked the first time shooting guard Josh Verner played since he broke his hand in practice three days after the Longhorns finished an unbeaten season in league play.

Verner did not start, but the senior gave his team an immediate spark after coming off the bench with 4:02 left in the first quarter and Las Lomas up 11-6.

By the end of the first quarter, the score was tied 13-13.

It remained tied, 28-28, at halftime.

“It’s like everyone’s here,” Williams said. “That’s what we practiced with the whole summer. Josh is a part of the family. When he was gone, it was like someone was missing. Now that we’ve got him back, we’re really confident.”

Wood scored the first points of the third quarter on a jumper off the glass to give Las Lomas a 30-28 lead.

But Leigh then scored the next 11 points as it started to look like the team that was 23-1 when Verner got injured.

The Longhorns eventually widened the lead to 17 points, twice, before Las Lomas started to rally.

“Las Lomas was a great opponent,” Giacchetti said. “They played hard. They stayed in there. But at the end of the game, we got a few shots together, a few stops, and came out on top.”

Nerland’s basket with 3:10 left pulled Los Lomas to within 63-59. But Williams answered with four consecutive free throws to extend the lead to 67-59 with 2:13 left.

When it was over, Leigh coach Patrick Judge was relieved that his team was back intact.

“This was the team,” Judge said. “Josh Verner gave us some huge minutes. We’re a hugely different team. He gives us more confidence, another player that’s been there, a three-year varsity guy. This was just a great team effort. Free throws were huge for us.”

Bellarmine College Prep 51, Fremont-Oakland 48: Bellarmine jumped out to a huge lead, then got a clutch 3-pointer and a steal from Dylan Tarpening late to hold off visiting Fremont of Oakland in the first round of the NorCal Division I playoffs.

The Bells advance to play at top-seeded Monte Vista of Danville on Saturday.

Fremont trailed the entire way before taking the lead when Edward McGowan scored on a layup and Donnell Wheat added a short jumper to give the Tigers a 46-43 advantage with 1:47 left.

Tarpening nailed a 3-pointer to tie the score, but Kaelin Mixon gave Fremont the lead back. Tarpening then hit another 3-pointer for a 49-48 Bells lead with 21 seconds left.

Girls

Wilcox 57, Galileo 41: Joeseta Fatuesi scored 24 points to lead third-seeded Wilcox to a NorCal Division I victory. The Chargers (23-5) move on to play host to No. 11 seed Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove on Saturday. Wednesday, Wilcox built an 11-point lead after one quarter.

Piedmont 48, Castilleja 30: Castilleja didn’t have an answer for Piedmont star Lauren Seyranian in the first half of the teams’ NorCal Division IV game. In the second half, Castilleja could not solve the Highlanders’ defense as its season came to an end.
Correspondent Tony Gonsalez and staff writer Phil Jensen contributed to this report.